End of warranty inspection
Discussion
So my car is booked in with the dealership today for an end of warranty inspection and MOT.
I compiled a list of things to look at (rattles from dash, 'alloy milking' etc) and I was given the impression they wouldn't have time to investigate all of these.
I pointed out it was in for an inspection and the service rep basically suggested that involved checking the computer for fault codes!
I would have thought an inspection involved going over the car with a fine-tooth comb given surely the whole point is to fix things that BMW would cover under warranty which the dealership would get paid for...?
Sounds a bit useless to me...
I compiled a list of things to look at (rattles from dash, 'alloy milking' etc) and I was given the impression they wouldn't have time to investigate all of these.
I pointed out it was in for an inspection and the service rep basically suggested that involved checking the computer for fault codes!
I would have thought an inspection involved going over the car with a fine-tooth comb given surely the whole point is to fix things that BMW would cover under warranty which the dealership would get paid for...?
Sounds a bit useless to me...
“I would have thought an inspection involved going over the car with a fine-tooth comb”
Really? Not a chance. They’ll plug it in and fix anything that they’re told is faulty.
Tell them about the wheels! They won’t ‘pick it up’ themselves and it’ll be harder to resolve once out of warranty.
Really? Not a chance. They’ll plug it in and fix anything that they’re told is faulty.
Tell them about the wheels! They won’t ‘pick it up’ themselves and it’ll be harder to resolve once out of warranty.
REALIST123 said:
“I would have thought an inspection involved going over the car with a fine-tooth comb”
Really? Not a chance. They’ll plug it in and fix anything that they’re told is faulty.
Tell them about the wheels! They won’t ‘pick it up’ themselves and it’ll be harder to resolve once out of warranty.
I figured they were just as likely to benefit as me with anything they find as they can charge BMW UK for the work. Their own website even states "even the smallest of warrantable issues can be identified and fixed before your cover expires" which to me suggested it was thorough. Marketing BS?Really? Not a chance. They’ll plug it in and fix anything that they’re told is faulty.
Tell them about the wheels! They won’t ‘pick it up’ themselves and it’ll be harder to resolve once out of warranty.
Cheers for the info on the wheels - that was exactly my thoughts too. Will have to see if the corrosion is bad enough for them to replace...
Yes, it's marketing/brand BS.
They make almost nothing on the labour rate they get from the warranty work, so prefer to have the customer pay full, extortionate rates instead.
When I took mine in for a sticking caliper, I was told it had to have both calipers, discs and pads replaced as it was a 'safety critical part'.
I said no problem because it was under warranty.
Wen I went to pick it up a couple of days later, I noticed the discs looked worn, and asked them whether they'd had issues getting the parts. But was simply told that the warranty company would only pay for a single new caliper (and not even a complete one, just the sliding part).
So much for 'safety critical parts' - and they wanted me to pay retail for the labour (almost £180/hour) & parts to replace the pads that the sticking caliper had ruined!
i don't see the point in paying their extortionate labour charges as almost all the 'courtesy' items have been removed...e.g. coffee machine doesn't work; TV doesn't work; won't pick you up/drop you off at the station; never have a courtesy car available; if there is a courtesy car you now have to pay an admin fee; etc.
They make almost nothing on the labour rate they get from the warranty work, so prefer to have the customer pay full, extortionate rates instead.
When I took mine in for a sticking caliper, I was told it had to have both calipers, discs and pads replaced as it was a 'safety critical part'.
I said no problem because it was under warranty.
Wen I went to pick it up a couple of days later, I noticed the discs looked worn, and asked them whether they'd had issues getting the parts. But was simply told that the warranty company would only pay for a single new caliper (and not even a complete one, just the sliding part).
So much for 'safety critical parts' - and they wanted me to pay retail for the labour (almost £180/hour) & parts to replace the pads that the sticking caliper had ruined!
i don't see the point in paying their extortionate labour charges as almost all the 'courtesy' items have been removed...e.g. coffee machine doesn't work; TV doesn't work; won't pick you up/drop you off at the station; never have a courtesy car available; if there is a courtesy car you now have to pay an admin fee; etc.
Edited by mmm-five on Wednesday 13th February 14:17
It is shocking but most premium main dealers seem to be going this way. Increasingly new car sales are making little profit and the vast number of people who know nothing about cars and just agree (and expect any job to be expensive because it’s a premium car) are providing a useful way of replacing that lost profit.
The inspection is a quick visual and a code scan. Easy money as it’s done by a junior tech and is a servicing requirement and so required for extended warranty etc
OT - I always book my 335i in under the value service and always get an invoice for the ‘a la carte’ cost of servicing. When I point it out to them it’s usually treated as an administrative error and I get a new much cheaper bill.
That said the last time it happened the service advisor just said ‘if you’d prefer to use the value service pricing I can do that if you wish’. I asked him if he could think of a reason I’d want to pay almost double for the same work and he just said fair enough and rolled his eyes.
Back on topic, I’d book it in at a local BMW indie and pay a couple of hours labour to find any faults. Shouldn’t cost too much and might save you a fair bit if anything major is wrong. I did an early MOT on my Z4M when it was approaching 3 years and they found a leaking diff and 2 snapped springs, so paid for itself and then some
The inspection is a quick visual and a code scan. Easy money as it’s done by a junior tech and is a servicing requirement and so required for extended warranty etc
OT - I always book my 335i in under the value service and always get an invoice for the ‘a la carte’ cost of servicing. When I point it out to them it’s usually treated as an administrative error and I get a new much cheaper bill.
That said the last time it happened the service advisor just said ‘if you’d prefer to use the value service pricing I can do that if you wish’. I asked him if he could think of a reason I’d want to pay almost double for the same work and he just said fair enough and rolled his eyes.
Back on topic, I’d book it in at a local BMW indie and pay a couple of hours labour to find any faults. Shouldn’t cost too much and might save you a fair bit if anything major is wrong. I did an early MOT on my Z4M when it was approaching 3 years and they found a leaking diff and 2 snapped springs, so paid for itself and then some
survivalist said:
Back on topic, I’d book it in at a local BMW indie and pay a couple of hours labour to find any faults. Shouldn’t cost too much and might save you a fair bit if anything major is wrong. I did an early MOT on my Z4M when it was approaching 3 years and they found a leaking diff and 2 snapped springs, so paid for itself and then some
Coincidentally, the MOT cover part of the warranty was another I had issue with, as my e34 M5 failed it's MOT (at the POS dealer in Liverpool) on leaking EDC dampers.They told me they had to be replaced in pairs, again I wasn't worried as it was a warranty issue, and was then presented with a bill for one side as the warranty company wouldn't pay for the other side as it wasn't leaking yet!
I paid under protest, and when I contact BMW GB, I was told that there was no need to replace in pairs at all!
Similar things have happened at other dealers with the Z4MC (which I've had since 9,600 miles - now on 163,000). When a dealer tried to charge me for excess diagnostic work when the warranty company said they didn't need that amount of time to diagnose and reduce the hours they'd pay for!
Robbing, effing, ***nting, POS, shysters
In the end I started going further & further afield for servicing & maintenance work (whilst still under warranty)...and then started using specialists.
ETA: and don't bother complaining to BMW UK/GB as they just say it's a matter between you and the dealer - the same effing dealer who's just trying to rip you off!!!
...and breathe!
Edited by mmm-five on Wednesday 13th February 17:24
mmm-five said:
survivalist said:
Back on topic, I’d book it in at a local BMW indie and pay a couple of hours labour to find any faults. Shouldn’t cost too much and might save you a fair bit if anything major is wrong. I did an early MOT on my Z4M when it was approaching 3 years and they found a leaking diff and 2 snapped springs, so paid for itself and then some
Coincidentally, the MOT cover part of the warranty was another I had issue with, as my e34 M5 failed it's MOT (at the POS dealer in Liverpool) on leaking EDC dampers.They told me they had to be replaced in pairs, again I wasn't worried as it was a warranty issue, and was then presented with a bill for one side as the warranty company wouldn't pay for the other side as it wasn't leaking yet!
I paid under protest, and when I contact BMW GB, I was told that there was no need to replace in pairs at all!
Similar things have happened at other dealers with the Z4MC (which I've had since 9,600 miles - now on 163,000). When a dealer tried to charge me for excess diagnostic work when the warranty company said they didn't need that amount of time to diagnose and reduce the hours they'd pay for!
Robbing, effing, ***nting, POS, shysters
In the end I started going further & further afield for servicing & maintenance work (whilst still under warranty)...and then started using specialists.
ETA: and don't bother complaining to BMW UK/GB as they just say it's a matter between you and the dealer - the same effing dealer who's just trying to rip you off!!!
...and breathe!
Edited by mmm-five on Wednesday 13th February 17:24
Got the warranty on the 335i as the previous owner had always had one and they let me continue at the same price. Non-M warranty seems to be much cheaper, even though the N54 engine it covers seems to have a number of known faults. So far it’s had a fuel pump, water pump, injectors and a pair of coil springs (amazed they were covered). Under the previous owner it had new turbos.
That said the dealer mentioned they they might not cover the heated rear screen and mirrors due to wear and tear ??? Will be making a call in the next month or so whether to cancel and divert the cash to a repair savings fund,
nw942 said:
The extended warranty includes wear and tear if you have the comprehensive cover.
Having said that I have had to fight to get work done under warranty. This was disappointing, yet expected.
Thanks for that, it’s the comprehensive cover I’ve got. Having said that I have had to fight to get work done under warranty. This was disappointing, yet expected.
When you say fight, did you have to argue with the dealer/service manager? Or escalate it to BWM / the Warranty Company?
Thanks in Advance
survivalist said:
Thanks for that, it’s the comprehensive cover I’ve got.
When you say fight, did you have to argue with the dealer/service manager? Or escalate it to BWM / the Warranty Company?
Thanks in Advance
Dealer was insistent that it was not covered. I phoned the warranty company who said it wasn't covered, and quoted me a line from the wrong policy booklet. Because they couldn't find a specific exclusion in the correct policy booklet, they gave me the number of an engineer at the 'underwriter' i.e. the person who the dealers presumably get in touch with. He immediately agree that it was covered. I then had to phone the dealer and give them that engineers details, and they then agree that is was covered.When you say fight, did you have to argue with the dealer/service manager? Or escalate it to BWM / the Warranty Company?
Thanks in Advance
They then tried to find two extra pieces of work e.g. your pads are low etc.
And to cap it all off they forgot to do the oil change it was originally booked in for in the first place, so I had to wait 45 minutes for that to be done when I collected it.
The sad thing is that I wasn't really at all surprised by any of it.
It's not that they're expensive...expensive I can understand, if it's for excellent service.
But the slapdash, haphazard, half-arsed dealer teams seem to just want to extract the most cash for the least effort - and if that means cutting corners than so be it.
If that's going to be the rule rather than the exception, then why not pay some dodgy, back-street, Qwik-Phit type place a much smaller amount to do the same shoddy work instead?
My warranty (on both the e34 M5 and Z4MC was the zero excess, fully comp policy, and cost about £200/month including BMW Assist). Although I'm almost certain it was one of their mobile technicians that caused my first large warranty claim (for an engine).
...
I started the car from cold, and it was giving a slight misfire on one cylinder, so I did the normal swapping of coils/plugs to check and the misfire remained on one cylinder. So I switched off and called BMW Assist.
BMW Assist turned up and read/reset fault codes.
Turned engine back on and misfire was still there.
Technician spent the next 30 minutes revving the car to 'clear this misfire' or 'clear a bit of dirt in the fuel' and resetting the codes. It didn't work!
Then said it was only a yellow EML light and I should drive it to my local dealership (some 240 miles away) - and then relented and arranged a recovery van.
3 weeks later the dealer diagnosed something had 'gone into the engine, possibly a shim' - and asked where it had has its last service. I told then that it had an out-of-schedule oil service (as I believed 15,000 miles between oil services was too long, and more than double that of the e34 M5) a couple of weeks previously at a specialist. The last inspection (including shims) was done by a BMW dealer 7,000 miles previously (at about 17,000 miles).
This is when the arguments over whether it was covered by warranty started - despite the oil service not having anything to do with shims. At no point would they even consider the fact that it might have been a simple misfire BEFORE the technician revved the nuts off it for 30 mins.
...
Bugger, I'm becoming Victor Meldrew!
I prescribe myself a blast in Wales in the Z4 (once I've picked up my blood pressure prescription).
But the slapdash, haphazard, half-arsed dealer teams seem to just want to extract the most cash for the least effort - and if that means cutting corners than so be it.
If that's going to be the rule rather than the exception, then why not pay some dodgy, back-street, Qwik-Phit type place a much smaller amount to do the same shoddy work instead?
My warranty (on both the e34 M5 and Z4MC was the zero excess, fully comp policy, and cost about £200/month including BMW Assist). Although I'm almost certain it was one of their mobile technicians that caused my first large warranty claim (for an engine).
...
I started the car from cold, and it was giving a slight misfire on one cylinder, so I did the normal swapping of coils/plugs to check and the misfire remained on one cylinder. So I switched off and called BMW Assist.
BMW Assist turned up and read/reset fault codes.
Turned engine back on and misfire was still there.
Technician spent the next 30 minutes revving the car to 'clear this misfire' or 'clear a bit of dirt in the fuel' and resetting the codes. It didn't work!
Then said it was only a yellow EML light and I should drive it to my local dealership (some 240 miles away) - and then relented and arranged a recovery van.
3 weeks later the dealer diagnosed something had 'gone into the engine, possibly a shim' - and asked where it had has its last service. I told then that it had an out-of-schedule oil service (as I believed 15,000 miles between oil services was too long, and more than double that of the e34 M5) a couple of weeks previously at a specialist. The last inspection (including shims) was done by a BMW dealer 7,000 miles previously (at about 17,000 miles).
This is when the arguments over whether it was covered by warranty started - despite the oil service not having anything to do with shims. At no point would they even consider the fact that it might have been a simple misfire BEFORE the technician revved the nuts off it for 30 mins.
...
Bugger, I'm becoming Victor Meldrew!
I prescribe myself a blast in Wales in the Z4 (once I've picked up my blood pressure prescription).
Edited by mmm-five on Thursday 14th February 09:40
nw942 said:
survivalist said:
Thanks for that, it’s the comprehensive cover I’ve got.
When you say fight, did you have to argue with the dealer/service manager? Or escalate it to BWM / the Warranty Company?
Thanks in Advance
Dealer was insistent that it was not covered. I phoned the warranty company who said it wasn't covered, and quoted me a line from the wrong policy booklet. Because they couldn't find a specific exclusion in the correct policy booklet, they gave me the number of an engineer at the 'underwriter' i.e. the person who the dealers presumably get in touch with. He immediately agree that it was covered. I then had to phone the dealer and give them that engineers details, and they then agree that is was covered.When you say fight, did you have to argue with the dealer/service manager? Or escalate it to BWM / the Warranty Company?
Thanks in Advance
They then tried to find two extra pieces of work e.g. your pads are low etc.
And to cap it all off they forgot to do the oil change it was originally booked in for in the first place, so I had to wait 45 minutes for that to be done when I collected it.
The sad thing is that I wasn't really at all surprised by any of it.
mmm-five said:
It's not that they're expensive...expensive I can understand, if it's for excellent service.
But the slapdash, haphazard, half-arsed dealer teams seem to just want to extract the most cash for the least effort - and if that means cutting corners than so be it.
If that's going to be the rule rather than the exception, then why not pay some dodgy, back-street, Qwik-Phit type place a much smaller amount to do the same shoddy work instead?
My warranty (on both the e34 M5 and Z4MC was the zero excess, fully comp policy, and cost about £200/month including BMW Assist). Although I'm almost certain it was one of their mobile technicians that caused my first large warranty claim (for an engine).
...
I started the car from cold, and it was giving a slight misfire on one cylinder, so I did the normal swapping of coils/plugs to check and the misfire remained on one cylinder. So I switched off and called BMW Assist.
BMW Assist turned up and read/reset fault codes.
Turned engine back on and misfire was still there.
Technician spent the next 30 minutes revving the car to 'clear this misfire' or 'clear a bit of dirt in the fuel' and resetting the codes. It didn't work!
Then said it was only a yellow EML light and I should drive it to my local dealership (some 240 miles away) - and then relented and arranged a recovery van.
3 weeks later the dealer diagnosed something had 'gone into the engine, possibly a shim' - and asked where it had has its last service. I told then that it had an out-of-schedule oil service (as I believed 15,000 miles between oil services was too long, and more than double that of the e34 M5) a couple of weeks previously at a specialist. The last inspection (including shims) was done by a BMW dealer 7,000 miles previously (at about 17,000 miles).
This is when the arguments over whether it was covered by warranty started - despite the oil service not having anything to do with shims. At no point would they even consider the fact that it might have been a simple misfire BEFORE the technician revved the nuts off it for 30 mins.
...
Bugger, I'm becoming Victor Meldrew!
I prescribe myself a blast in Wales in the Z4 (once I've picked up my blood pressure prescription).
I got the 'drive to the dealership as it's only on amber' advice when the water pump went on my 3 Series. I pointed out that with no coolant circulating it would turn red pretty quickly and leave me stranded and waiting for recovery, rather than safe and warm in my house. They refused to budge so in the end I called Green Flag (which I get free with my bank account) who were far more reasonable and just sent a low loader to collect my car and deliver it to BMW. Took a few hours mind, but I was working at home so no real issue for me. But the slapdash, haphazard, half-arsed dealer teams seem to just want to extract the most cash for the least effort - and if that means cutting corners than so be it.
If that's going to be the rule rather than the exception, then why not pay some dodgy, back-street, Qwik-Phit type place a much smaller amount to do the same shoddy work instead?
My warranty (on both the e34 M5 and Z4MC was the zero excess, fully comp policy, and cost about £200/month including BMW Assist). Although I'm almost certain it was one of their mobile technicians that caused my first large warranty claim (for an engine).
...
I started the car from cold, and it was giving a slight misfire on one cylinder, so I did the normal swapping of coils/plugs to check and the misfire remained on one cylinder. So I switched off and called BMW Assist.
BMW Assist turned up and read/reset fault codes.
Turned engine back on and misfire was still there.
Technician spent the next 30 minutes revving the car to 'clear this misfire' or 'clear a bit of dirt in the fuel' and resetting the codes. It didn't work!
Then said it was only a yellow EML light and I should drive it to my local dealership (some 240 miles away) - and then relented and arranged a recovery van.
3 weeks later the dealer diagnosed something had 'gone into the engine, possibly a shim' - and asked where it had has its last service. I told then that it had an out-of-schedule oil service (as I believed 15,000 miles between oil services was too long, and more than double that of the e34 M5) a couple of weeks previously at a specialist. The last inspection (including shims) was done by a BMW dealer 7,000 miles previously (at about 17,000 miles).
This is when the arguments over whether it was covered by warranty started - despite the oil service not having anything to do with shims. At no point would they even consider the fact that it might have been a simple misfire BEFORE the technician revved the nuts off it for 30 mins.
...
Bugger, I'm becoming Victor Meldrew!
I prescribe myself a blast in Wales in the Z4 (once I've picked up my blood pressure prescription).
Edited by mmm-five on Thursday 14th February 09:40
survivalist said:
Annoyingly I had a look at the T&C and even in the comprehensive warranty (the one I have) hinges are excluded as is glass. Not sure if that includes mirror glass etc.
I guess if the heating element or the auto-dip doesn't work, and there are no visible signs of damage on the entire wing mirror assembly, you may get it through. Certainly worth a 'discussion'. Failing that maybe they will provide some goodwill if you have a full BMW service history.Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff